Lot 1059. A rare Longquan celadon Guan-type 'Twin fish' dish, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279); 22.2 cm diam, Japanese wood box inscribed by Fujioka Ryoichi (1909-1990). Price realised USD 21,420 (Estimate USD 18,000 – USD 24,000) © Christie's 2023

Provenance: Private collection, Kyoto, 1980s.

Note: Fujioka Ryoichi (1909-1990) was a prominent Japanese scholar of Chinese ceramics. He worked for the Kyoto National Museum and the Nara National Museum, and participated in compilation of several seminal works on Chinese ceramics including the Toji Taikei, Heibonsha, 1972-1978.

Guan-type wares produced at the Longquan kilns show considerable variation. Some examples have dark, slate-grey bodies and crackled, greyish-blue glaze while others imitate the cracked glaze and form of Guan but have the light grey stoneware bodies typical of standard Longquan ware. The present dish, with its golden-brown glaze, is of a type known as beishoku (‘golden rice grain color’) in Japanese. A rare beishoku Guanyao vase from the Tsuneichi Inoue Collection, dated to the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), was sold at Sotheby’s, London, 13 May 2015, lot 32.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 21 sept. & 22 sept. 2023